It may be a long shot, but a recent New York appellate decision may have opened the door, if ever so slightly, to compensability of COVID-19 claims on the basis...
Opinion Mondays: Recent NY Case May Open Door for Compensability of COVID-19 Claims Without Need for Presumption Opinion Mondays: Recent NY Case May Open Door for Compensability of COVID-19 Claims Without Need for PresumptionTwo months ago, I posited that a decision in an old influenza case from Hawaii might give us some indication as to how a COVID-19 presumption of compensability might operate...
407-Page IME Report Insufficient to Rebut Hawai'i's Presumption of Compensability 407-Page IME Report Insufficient to Rebut Hawai'i's Presumption of CompensabilityIn a decision not designated for publication, a Virginia appellate court affirmed an award of workers' compensation benefits to a claimant who contended he developed Crohn's colitis — a type...
Virginia Employee's Bowel Disease Tied to Puncture Wound in Foot Virginia Employee's Bowel Disease Tied to Puncture Wound in FootThe Supreme Court of Missouri, construing the state’s special causation rules for workers’ compensation claims, affirmed a decision by the state’s Labor and Industrial Relations Commission that denied an employee’s...
"First Do No Harm" – Missouri Employee's Injuries At Doctor's Office Not Compensable "First Do No Harm" – Missouri Employee's Injuries At Doctor's Office Not CompensableAcknowledging that when South Carolina’s Workers’ Compensation Commission makes a credibility determination based on substantial evidence, that credibility finding itself is substantial evidence, and factual findings properly based on such...
SC Supreme Court Stresses Commission May Not Use Credibility as a Wild Card SC Supreme Court Stresses Commission May Not Use Credibility as a Wild CardA Virginia appellate court recently affirmed a determination by the state’s Commission which, in a divided decision, had awarded workers’ compensation benefits to an administrative assistant who contended she was...
Virginia Court Affirms Award for Brown Recluse Spider Bite Virginia Court Affirms Award for Brown Recluse Spider BiteThe world is transfixed by a new enemy: the coronavirus. I just received an email from my bank reminding me how I can use my accounts’ electronic features so as...
For Workers’ Comp World, Coronavirus is a Real “Snake in the Grass” For Workers’ Comp World, Coronavirus is a Real “Snake in the Grass”In a well-expressed opinion that illustrates how an appellate court is sometimes required to construe an ambiguous statute, the Supreme Court of New Mexico held that while there was no...
NM Supreme Court Applies IME Statute to Death Benefit Cases NM Supreme Court Applies IME Statute to Death Benefit CasesIn a decision illustrating the broad latitude given to Missouri’s Labor & Industrial Relations Commission in judging the weight of medical evidence, a panel of a state appellate court recently...
Missouri Worker Fails to Connect Tinnitus to Work-Related Brawl Missouri Worker Fails to Connect Tinnitus to Work-Related BrawlIllustrating the broad discretion that the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board of Review has when it comes to making factual determinations—including those regarding medical causation—the Supreme Court of Appeals of West...
No Carpal Tunnel Recovery for West Virginia Embalmer No Carpal Tunnel Recovery for West Virginia EmbalmerIn an unpublished opinion that illustrates the difficulty in establishing medical causation in many aggravation cases, a Nebraska appellate court affirmed a decision by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Court denying...
Nebraska Claimant Fails to Connect Sinus Cavity Clot to Earlier DVT Nebraska Claimant Fails to Connect Sinus Cavity Clot to Earlier DVTTestimony by the employer’s independent medical examiner, in which the physician opined that the major contributing cause of claimant’s need for treatment for his respiratory condition was his 17-year history...
Florida IME MD Need Not be Board-Certified Pulmonologist to Testify as to Causation of Lung Condition Florida IME MD Need Not be Board-Certified Pulmonologist to Testify as to Causation of Lung Condition